sounds like your friends are members of "Hater Nation". [8D]

 

Unfortunately it's 100% normal ... most of them rust on the rail car on the way from the factory to the dealership.

 

This should make you feel better....

From the Ford Racing Parts site;

409 stainless is used in applications where appearance is a secondary consideration to mechanical properties and corrosion resistance and where some weldability is required. An example of 409 stainless usage is catalytic converter assemblies.
409 stainless has excellent forming characteristics and is rust through resistant.
A surface rust will form in most instances. This rust retards further corrosion.

 

Have you considered taking the side door molding off? It's something that you see commonly on rental Mustangs. By taking it off, it will make your car look like what the designer had in mind.

 

i thought that was there to improve the aerodynamics of the car?....[8D]

 

Yeah, it improves hp by 10.

 

The quote is not really applicable. The rear axle isn't stainless steelof any sort. (regular steel and iron)

The parts there are justso thick that the car's unibody will have long since rotted away before the rust on the axle and/or driveshaft cause any concern.

 

yeah but the same concept applies. i think that was the point of the pasted statement.

 

Yep, you are right Sancho805, my point was to show Ford recognizes some parts with surfacerust but it was done to prevent further rusting.

 

Oxidation on an iron or steel part will not prevent future rusting...it will just continue to rust. The key is the rate at which it rusts and thickness of the material.

Other metals, like aluminum are different. Bare aluminum forms aluminum oxide and will not continue to corrode. Not so for iron. It forms iron oxide (rust) and that will just flake away and form more rust.

So, yes, your axle is rusting away. You won't need to address the problem for probably 50 or 60 years, though. (Meaning that the rear axle, if not recycled by then, might outlive even the youngest drivers here!)

I replaced a 1971 Corvette with my Mustang GT in 2006. Some parts on that car had been rusting for 35 years, but were absolutely fine. On most older cars you had to worry about rust on the frame that will go long before other parts, say 30 years or so.

The previous poster is absolutely right, you'll have to worry about the unibody rusting away before your rear axle. The good news is that coatings and materials have improved quite a bit since my 1971, so you probably won't even have to worry about the unibody for many decades.